Cultural variability and consistency in adolescents’ emotional regulation and relationship with their parents: data from Argentina, Ghana, India and Zambia

The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between parent?child relationship and emotional regulation in adolescents across four countries regarding: (a) mother?child relationship; (b) father?child relationship; (c) adolescents? emotion regulation; and (d) the relationship between mother?child/father?child close relationships and adolescents? emotion regulation. Sex differences were also considered in the analysis. The sample of 270 Zambian, 216 Argentinian, 200 Ghanaian, and 180 Indian adolescents answered The Experience in Close Relationship Questionnaire and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire. Results revealed cultural differences in the way adolescents perceived their relations with parents. Zambian adolescents were more likely to perceive their relationship as avoidant compared to Ghanaian, Argentina and Indian. Consistent with literature, Zambian and Argentinian adolescents who perceived their parents as avoidant were likely to use less cognitive appraisal as an emotion regulation strategy. Finally, Argentinian adolescents who used expressive suppression were also likely to perceive their parents as avoidant.Fil: Hapunda, Given. University of Zambia; ZambiaFil: Mahama, S.. University of Ghana; GhanaFil: Mesurado, Maria Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J. A. Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Verma, S.K.. University of Delhi; IndiaFil: Koller, S.. North-West University; Sudáfrica. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasi

“Every part of me has changed”—shared lived experiences of adolescents living with cancer in Zambia

This study explored experiences of adolescents living with cancer, focusing on physical and psychosocial problems. Semi-structured interviews were carried out on 18 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results showed that the adolescents faced a lot of physical, psychological, and social problems due to cancer diagnosis, treatment, and care. In order to improve their well-being and quality of life, psychosocial interventions should be incorporated in biomedical interventions that adolescents with cancer receive. This study proposes cost-effective interventions that can be implemented in resource-restricted sub-Saharan countries like Zambia

Applying the bioecological model to understand factors contributing to psychosocial well-being and healthcare of children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus

Abstract: We discuss the bioecological model of Urie Bronfrenbreener and its application to diabetes care and psychosocial wellbeing of children with diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using empirical evidence, this paper demonstrates that the bioecological model provides an important framework for understanding diabetes care needs and intervention strategies required to enhance the well-being of children living with diabetes. The paper also discusses clinical and research implications. The advantage of applying the bioecological model in drawing up intervention strategies for those living with diabetes is that it targets large-scale public health interventions unlike medical intervention that focus on a single individual

Validity and reliability of the Zambian version of the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) scale: A triangulation with cognitive interviews

Abstract: This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Zambian version of the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) scale and to determine the levels of diabetes-specific emotional distress in Zambian people with diabetes. A total of 157 Zambians living with type 1 and 2 diabetes completed the 20-item PAID, self-care inventory (SCI), fear for hypoglycaemia scale (HFS) and the major depression inventory (MDI) in study 1. In addition to exploratory factor analysis (EFA), reliability and validity tests were also conducted. In study 2, eight patients participated in cognitive interviews, in order to evaluate the extent to which participants were able to comprehend the scale items. EFA showed that a one-factor solution was the best interpretable solution and the PAID was a valid and reliable measure. Cognitive interviews showed that the participants were able to comprehend question intent, while a few faced some challenges with the meaning of words such as \u27anxious\u27 and \u27physician\u27, and with comprehension of some items. The Zambian version of the PAID is a reliable and valid measure to assess diabetes-specific distress. These Zambian participants with diabetes expressed high levels of diabetes-specific distress, and some items needed to be simplified or clarified to enhance comprehensibility

Correlates of fear of hypoglycemia among patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus in outpatient hospitals in Zambia

Background: Severe hypoglycemia is a burdensome complication of diabetes mellitus that can induce fear of hypoglycemia and contribute to suboptimal glycemic control. The challenge is to achieve and maintain adequate glycemic control while avoiding episodes of severe hypoglycemia. The purpose of the study was to determine how common fear of hypoglycemia was in Zambian out-patients with diabetes and also to explore correlates of fear of hypoglycemia. Methods: One hundred fifty-seven individuals with types 1 and 2 diabetes participated in the study. Fear of Hypoglycemia Scale, Diabetes Self-Care Inventory, Problem Areas in Diabetes, and the Major Depression Inventory were completed. Multiple linear regression models were computed to assess the association between fear of hypoglycemia and psychological factors. Results: About 19% [16.3% type 1 and 12.6% type 2] of individuals with diabetes based on item endorsement expressed fear of hypoglycemia especially among individuals with type 1 diabetes. After controlling for demographic variables, diabetes self-care (ß = 0.24, p < 0.05), and diabetes specific distress (ß = 0.41, p < 0.001) were associated with fear of hypoglycemia. Conclusion: Fear of hypoglycemia was common and was positively associated with diabetes specific emotional distress and diabetes self-care. Interventions to avert fear of hypoglycemia are needed while optimizing glycemic control through managing diabetes care and emotion distress in individuals with diabetes

Applying the bioecological model to understand factors contributing to psychosocial well-being and healthcare of children and adolescents with diabetes mellitus

We discuss the bioecological model of Urie Bronfrenbreener and its application to diabetes care and the psychosocial well-being of children with diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa. Using empirical evidence, this article demonstrates that the bioecological model provides an important framework for understanding diabetes care needs and the interventional strategies required to enhance the well-being of children living with diabetes. It also discusses clinical and research implications. The advantage of applying the bioecological model in drawing up interventional strategies for those living with diabetes is that it targets large-scale public health interventions, unlike medical intervention, which focuses on a single individual

Development, implementation and dissemination: Couples and Parent-Child Communication Workshops in Zambia

Over a million people are living with HIV in Zambia, representing ∼13% of the country's population. To increase HIV prevention communication, a community-based communication training program, the Parent-Child and Couples Communication Workshop, was developed from pilot data and culturally tailored for dissemination in Zambia. Workshop trainees (  = 195) were 18 years of age or more and community educators and counselors in the Copperbelt and Southern Provinces of Zambia, e.g., peer educators, lay counselors, teachers, nurses, mentors and program officers, workshops (  = 16) were conducted. Satisfaction with the workshops, readiness to conduct a workshop and implementation were assessed. Overall, readiness to conduct workshops following training and satisfaction with the workshop was similarly high across Provinces. Following the initial training, more than half of workshop trainees conducted workshops in their own communities. Zambian community members were receptive to learning techniques to disseminate communication strategies that could prevent HIV transmission. The use of culturally appropriate strategies and a training of trainers approach for communication and prevention may have enhanced workshop dissemination in Zambian communities. Future research should explore the use of culturally congruent HIV prevention initiatives in the Zambian context

On enhancing the cross-cultural comparability of Likert-Scale Personality and Value Measures: A comparison of common procedures

This study aims to evaluate a number of procedures that have been proposed to enhance cross-cultural comparability of personality and value data. A priori procedures (anchoring vignettes and direct measures of response styles (i.e. acquiescence, extremity, midpoint responding, and social desirability), a posteriori procedures focusing on data transformations prior to analysis (ipsatization and item parcelling), and two data modelling procedures (treating data as continuous vs as ordered categories) were compared using data collected from university students in 16 countries. We found that (i) anchoring vignettes showed lack of invariance, so they were not bias-free; (ii) anchoring vignettes showed higher internal consistencies than raw scores where all other correction procedures, notably ipsatization, showed lower internal consistencies; (iii) in measurement invariance testing, no procedure yielded scalar invariance; anchoring vignettes and item parcelling slightly improved comparability, response style correction did not affect it, and ipsatization resulted in lower comparability; (iv) treating Likert-scale data as categorical resulted in higher levels of comparability; (v) factor scores of scales extracted from different procedures showed similar correlational patterning; and (vi) response style correction was the only procedure that suggested improvement in external validity of country-level conscientiousness. We conclude that, although no procedure resolves all comparability issues, anchoring vignettes, parcelling, and treating data as ordered categories seem promising to alleviate incomparability. We advise caution in uncritically applying any of these procedures